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This Week in Lower School 9/11-9/15, 2017

The lower school hallways and classrooms are alive with the spirit of the upcoming holiday of Rosh Hashana. Our baby bears listened to the book Happy Birthday World and then created shana tova cards for their families. The two year old classes read Apple Tree Discovery as part of their literature based approach. Many unique apple themed projects were created by the children. After reading Sammy Spider’s First Rosh Hashana, our three year olds made their own shofars in addition to other hands-on projects to help bring the new year in with a sweet note. The JK classes had a special visit from “Paul Cezanne” as a part of our suitcase gallery where our art teacher Debbie Levy dresses up as different artists to integrate arts into our curriculum. Cezanne was chosen to study this month because of his many apple still life paintings. After learning about the famous artist, students created paper mache apples in Cezanne’s style.

Challah Baking

Our older students are preparing for the holidays in an engaging and interactive manner. Kindergarten students filled the outdoor walking paths with chalk creations of Rosh Hashana symbols. While taking the learning outside, they reviewed the Hebrew vocabulary and shared their knowledge with classmates. Our first graders learned about the importance of the Shofar and what to think about when listening to the shofar blast. As part of a discussion of the symbolism of pomegranates, second graders brainstormed ways to do mitzvot, and how to recognize their friends when observing them doing good deeds. The third graders worked hard to learn a traditional Israeli song for Rosh Hashana called Bashana Habaa, talking about how great our new year will be. Fourth graders took on a leadership role when they baked delicious round challot with the 2nd graders. View photos of the Challah Baking. One of the focuses of fifth grade was to learn about the relationship between the moon and the Jewish calendar. The fifth graders made canvases with the phases of the moons to show the lunar cycle of each month.

Next week our students will enjoy a Rosh Hashana seder in the classrooms, tasting the symbolic food, reciting the blessings, and singing songs as we bring in the new year.